Missed Opportunities

As I was driving to class last night I was struck by how beautiful the sunset was.  I thought to myself, I just took a bunch of sunrise photos, I have all of my camera gear (including tripod) with me, I could stop and take a few pictures and then be on my way.  Unfortunately reason won out and I continued on to my class - on time.  Well, on the way home I was driving past Gray's Lake and noticed the pedestrian bridge and then noticed the water and decided, I wasn't going to pass this one up.  Now maybe I'll have better opportunities, maybe the water will be glass smooth some day, maybe I'll never know if I don't ever stop.  Here's the result of my latest attempts.

Weekend Regrets

I went to Chicago hoping to get a great picture of the sunrise but I also had realistic expectations that I may leave without a great picture.  Looking back, I think I did get some good (but maybe not great) shots of the sunrise and also of the Chicago skyline, but Kim and I have both realized that I totally failed in one photographic area.  I didn't take almost ANY documentary photos.  I don't have photos of Gino's East, I took one photo of the Old Water Tower but only two (with my camera phone) of the Field Museum.  I tried to get a few night shots of the skyline but those didn't turn out because I didn't have a tripod and I tried to get a photo of the bean (again with my camera phone) but that wasn't all that great either.  AND to top it all off, the only picture of Kim and I on the whole trip was taken by a stranger (also on my phone.)  Talk about a total bummer.  I don't even have the excuse that I didn't have a good camera around because I had my camera with me almost THE ENTIRE TIME!!  I could have taken pictures of the Sky Deck at the Willis Tower or of the really cool library next to our hotel, or of any of the cool buildings in Chicago, or especially of my beautiful wife in Millenium Park.  But no, I didn't and because of that I need to make it a point on our next trip to not be so narrow minded with my photography.  I need to keep my camera handy (not stuffed in my backpack) and always be at the ready to document the moment.  Just think of all the missed opportunities for street photography that I missed.  GRRRR!  I will do better next time!

Current theme - "Get Closer"

After last night's photography class and a recent post on Digital-Photography-School I have noticed one recurring theme for beginners - GET CLOSER!!!  I took a step in that direction with my last couple of pictures but I think there is still room for improvement on the rest of my pictures.  Apparently it's still going to take some time for that to sink in because as I left my class I noticed a particularly well lit ash tree that really stood out in contrast to the night sky.  So naturally, I grabbed my camera and snapped a few shots only to realize as I was driving away that I completely failed to implement the major point of the evenings class...DOH!  I will continue to work on that and hopefully someday it will sink in.